FIG. 1 shows a vertical drainpipe 12 which may be of any conventional size, e.g. 3 inch, 4 inch, 6 inch inside diameter and made of any conventional material, pvc, cast iron, etc. Such drainpipes are conventionally laid under a concrete floor such as in a basement or industrial building with the vertical portion as shown in FIG. 1 used to form a floor drain. The concrete is usually intended to be pitched toward the floor drain so that any water will run toward the drain. A drain screen such as screen 14 in FIG. 1 is conventionally used to prevent waste products and debris from being carried into the floor drain and causing blockage of the under floor main sewer pipe.
Usually such drain screens are very effective in preventing large undesirable pieces of trash or debris from reaching the sewer pipe but when such pieces are caught on the outer surface of the screen it is a difficult and distasteful job to remove them. The easy way out for an unthinking or unmotivated person is to remove the drain screen and flush all of the dirt, including the large pieces, down the drain. The inevitable result is that the under floor sewer pipe will be blocked, resulting in an even more difficult, distasteful, and expensive job to clean the under floor sewer pipe.
Brock U.S. Pat. No. 2,531,721 has a screen over a floor drain sump and a circular body below the sump with a central opening and a pushrod vertically moveable in that opening. A float is secured to the lower end of the pushrod and in case of a sewer backup or flood the float will be raised by the incoming backup water causing the pushrod and the float to rise and seal against the bottom of the circular body. When the backup water recedes, the screen is readily removable to access the pushrod and manually move it down in case it does not move down by gravity.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,287,742 to Gaddis discloses a cylindrical housing with an upper edge for forcing a tight seal against the lower surface around the opening in a shower stall pan. A screen inside the housing has a circular lip that rest against the upper surface of the pan in the circular area around the opening. The screen can be drawn down tight by a threaded rod extending upwardly from a diametric cross brace. The brace is brazed or welded to the inside wall of the housing.
Loeffler U.S. Pat. No. 3,445,867 is similar to Gaddis in having a screen held by a bolt threaded into a cross brace. However the cross brace is held in slots cut in the drain pipe inside wall.
The patent of Fonoimoana (4,936,3381) discloses a structure similar to Brock with a floating seal on a pushrod. However in this patent the pushrod is suspended from the center of the screen rather than being supported by a cross brace.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,244 discloses a locking grate device for a floor drain in which a cross brace is held by two diametric sliding unthreaded rods. The rods are pointed to grip the inside wall of the drainpipe. The inner ends of the rods are tapered and are moved diametrically outward by cam action of the tapered end of a central bolt which engages the tapered rod ends. The central bolt also serves to hold a drain screen in place so the screen is difficult to remove.
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,179 patent to Smith discloses a Flood Control valve having a buoyant valve member, such as a rubber ball which floats against an annular seat to prevent entry of back flowing water. The valve member is held near the seat by two cross members each of which have a central turnbuckle-like body and pointed bolts which grip the inside wall of the drain pipe.
Since it is difficult to find people who are willing to clean drains the proper way, it becomes necessary to prevent cleaning people from taking the easy way out. The present invention enables a drain screen to be secured into place so that people without the proper tools cannot remove the drain screen.
It is thus an object of the present invention to prevent easy removal of a drain screen.
Another object of this invention is to facilitate a positive interconnection between a drain screen and its drainpipe, thereby making removal of the drain screen much more difficult. In addition the invention allows for much larger variance in the inner dimension of the drainpipe with which it can be used.
A further object of this invention is to provide a simple to install and stable connection between the drainpipe and the drain screen.
It is thus a principal objective of this invention to provide a thrust bolt which extends through a central opening in a drain screen and a bolt receiving means into which the thrust bolt can be screwed. The thrust bolt has a non-standard head, one that requires a special tool to rotate the bolt, such as a spanner wrench with two projections. The bolt receiving means is a cross brace having left and right hand threaded rods with ends for gripping the drainpipe inner wall at diametrically opposed positions. These ends may be pointed and project diametrically outward and into the drainpipe inner walls when the cross brace, which is preferably an elongated, threaded body, is rotated. That elongated body has a lateral through bore with associated threads to receive the thrust bolt.